Reddit mentions of Mikasa MGV500 Heavy Weight Volleyball (Official Size)

> How does someone achieve this?

Practice. There are many different drills you can do. I'm in the process of learning how to set on the beach, which is much much more strict about no spin, but less so on lifts (allowing a bit longer contact time). I've practicing for 2 years, and I'm finally close to getting it. I've found that for cushioning, you want to focus on using the muscles in the meaty pads of your hands during the catch in and push out. These muscles are connected to the very bottom of your thumbs on the inside of your hands. And for cleaning it up with less spin, I've found its more about having both left/right sides being equal in contribution. Some drills I do:

• I sit on the couch and rotate between a volleyball and basketball, setting continuously but only a few inches out of my hands. Its this but I do it on the couch during commercials. Using the basketball helps me get stronger in these muscles. This can train my thumbs and forearms/wrists (i also notice some bicep and chest/shoulder involvement). When doing this, I personally can instinctively tell that I have very little control and input with my left hand/arm, probably from years of playing basketball and shooting right handed. So I focus consciously, EVERY REP, about building up my left side so that they are equal.
  
  
• I stand against a wall and set against the wall, again just a few inches, and again continuously without stopping. I find this helps practice the cushioning when the ball comes in. Like this video. I will also rotate do sets of this with one arm. I again feel this in my fingers, but I also feel it in my shoulders, especially when I'm using the heavier basketball.
  
  
• Another thing I do is just stand up outside, or in a gym with high ceilings, and i just toss a ball up maybe 2 feet above my head, set it, and then catch it. So this is just one set, not continuous. This is a little more realistic, this helps me focus on having both hands up and both sides ready to equally contract and contribute. And I practice being stronger and pushing a real set higher. I like to use an overweight heavy setting ball for this, but again I rotate. I feel this more in my chest/shoulders. With this, I can then toss the ball higher, to replicate a higher pass, and therefore more gravity bringing the ball down faster, which requires more strength to absorb. I can also toss the ball to myself with spin, to practice absorbing an incoming pass that has backspin (such as when a teammate had to pass a bomb jumps serve).
  
  
• Visualization. Find some videos on youtube of good setters, and visualize the sets, and what the feeling is that they are experiencing during ball contact. Try to remember this feeling, and replicate it on every single rep you practice. Practice is meant to be challenging, and extremely focused, and mentally tiring, because you are pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone.
  
  What's also helped me more recently was to RELAX during the practice rep. Before, I had these hand/forearms/shoulder muslces tense prior to contact, because I wanted to make it perfect. Now I relax everything and let the ball fall in. This exposes strength deficiencies, and now I'm training the eccentric/absorption strength needed as the ball falls in. And then I'm still somewhat relaxed as I push the ball out (concentric), but now by being more relaxed I can more easily discern what other small muscles may be needed, but arent contributing properly because the other stronger ones were overpowering them.
  
  Also, practice daily. Even 5 minutes a day is better than 2 hours once a week. Your brain will build the connections faster. Practice should be extremely focused on working on the muscles you need to execute the perfect set. Do not just rep out 100 sets mindlessly going through the motions.